Horse-Chestnuts c. 1940

Elizabeth Saltonstall made this drawing, Horse-Chestnuts, with graphite on paper. It’s amazing to see such a familiar subject rendered with such care. It reminds me that every drawing is a process of discovery, revealing new possibilities, even in the most ordinary subjects. The drawing feels like a meditation on texture and form. The dense graphite work gives a soft, velvety quality to the leaves, contrasting with the spiky shells of the horse-chestnuts. Look at the veins of the leaves, how they curl and twist, each line carefully placed to give a sense of depth and volume. And then there are the branches, twisting and turning, creating a complex network of lines that hold the whole composition together. Saltonstall’s work reminds me of Agnes Martin, who also found endless inspiration in simple, repetitive forms. Like Martin, Saltonstall invites us to slow down, to observe, and to find beauty in the everyday. It shows that art is an ongoing conversation, an exploration of seeing that embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations over any fixed meaning.